WINDHOEK: Namibia Correctional Service (NCS) Deputy Commissioner General Sam Shaalulange said there is a need to identify and promote more positive definitions of masculinity and what it is to be a man.
Addressing the men’s conference here Friday, Shaalulange said that positive masculinity can be a force for a safer and more conducive society.
“Masculinity is one that, particularly in Namibia, has been associated with wrong values that have led to devastating consequences such as suicides, passion killings, and even man-on-man killings for women,” he said.
He added that there have been economic problems, that make men feel useless because they cannot provide for their families and take care of their kids and they feel worthless because they cannot build houses, and they then choose to commit suicide.
The Commissioner further encouraged men to embark on the journey of promoting positive masculinity with the hope of a brighter, healthier future for all men and boys, particularly men in uniform, and the communities.
Also in attendance, Deputy Director for Gender Mainstreaming in the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare Benson Matali, said the country is losing men to suicide due to toxic masculinity.
“As we stand now as a country, we rank number one in terms of gender equality; we have achieved gender parity in Africa and number two after Rwanda, but during the current gender index, it was found that Namibia is ranked number one. We have done well in the areas of education, health, politics and decision-making, economic empowerment, so based on this, we are number one in Africa and stand at number eight in the world,” Matali said.
Namibia recorded 623 suicide cases between August 2022 and June 2023, with 511 of these cases being men, representing 82 per cent.
The conference was held under the theme ‘zero male suicide: promoting masculinity’.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency